(Trenton) The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) announced today that Dr. Arturo Brito, MD, MPH has joined the Department as Deputy Commissioner of Public Health Services.

At the Department, Dr. Brito plays a key leadership role and provide guidance for policy implementation and budgeting for the DHSS Divisions of HIV/STD/TB Services; Family Health Services; Epidemiology, Environmental and Occupational Health Services and Public Health Infrastructure and Emergency Response. Dr. Brito will have oversight of 900 DHSS employees and oversee an annual budget of $600 million.

“As a skilled physician and executive, Dr. Brito has a unique skill set that will not only improve the services provided by the Department to the residents of New Jersey but to our own internal operations as well,” said Mary E. O’Dowd, Commissioner NJDHSS. “Dr. Brito will be a key member of the Department’s leadership team.”

Dr. Brito joins the Department after having served as the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of the Children’s Health Fund (Fund) in New York City, a national nonprofit organization serving and advocating for medically underserved children.

Under Dr. Brito’s leadership, the Fund’s National Network grew from 17 to 25 programs and affiliates serving 72,000 homeless and low-income children. He also oversaw an increase in health care encounters from 141,000 to 245,000 clients annually. Dr. Brito instituted uniform data collection and reporting systems that improved service and evaluations efforts, and produced and designed a comprehensive community pediatric content set for an electronic health record.

Prior to his time at the Fund, Dr. Brito was Attending Physician, Pediatrics at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami Florida, the Medical Director at South Florida Children’s Health Project and Attending Physician of Pediatrics with the Yukon-Kuskokwim Delta Regional Hospital, Bethal Alaska.